Isaiah uses various elements to represent people or their spiritual path. One of the elements Isaiah uses is silver. If you remember, Isaiah said, “Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water” (Isaiah 1:22). We already discussed the diluting of wine with water in a previous episode. Today, we will talk about silver and dross along with other metal and element symbols Isaiah uses.
In Isaiah’s writings, silver is symbolic of a couple ideas. The first is the concept of becoming pure before the Lord. Silver which has been refined represents uprightness and purity. However, the silver that is impure or in imbued with other alloys represents wickedness or rebellion from God. When the dross is removed, the silver becomes pure, suggesting that when the wicked are removed the remaining covenant people become subsequently are more refined, or in other words, ascend to a higher spiritual plane. Or viewing it from an individual perspective, when the impurities within each of us are removed, we become pure before God.
The second concept is the precious things we revere more than God. Sometimes that is money, and sometimes it is our idols. “Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold” (Isaiah 30:22). Note the idols of gold and silver mentioned here—and throughout Isaiah—are often in the image of something or someone. Silver and gold in this symbolic context refer to those people we idolize, the elite of the world, whether academics, philosophers, politicians, spiritual leaders, celebrities, or others. In the last days, we will not regard these idols as precious any longer. Our loyalty will eventually change to the Lord. “For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold” (Isaiah 31:7).
Learn how Isaiah uses the symbol of silver as well as other symbols of elements.